Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Hub on Wheels

I didn't actually ride the Hub on Wheels this year, but instead I volunteered at the Livable Streets Alliance booth for part of the morning.

It was a nice chance to talk to a lot of people about bikes and sidewalks and infrastructure. There was one guy who asked me for the "elevator pitch" and I'm afraid I hemmed and hawed too much for his taste, because he walked off before I could get very far. "Wisdom of the staircase" provided me with the perfect quote, too late:

“When you design for cars and traffic, you get more cars and traffic. When you design for places and people, you get places and people.”

I hear this quote a lot in livable streets circles, and I believe that it's originator was Fred Kent, of the Project for Public spaces Whomever said it first, it neatly encapsulates what livable streets is all about: designing streets for people. I really believe that in focusing on that, and how appealing that idea is will get us a lot further as a community than talking about the specifics of bike lane advocacy or sidewalk widths which devolve quickly into a zero sum game with parking and travel lane width, with a potential for backlash. But when the use of public space is rephrased into a choice between a park with a food cart and tables vs a parking lot, it becomes a much easier sell. Next time I "table" I'll know how to lead off my pitch.

Mostly it was a fun chance to hang out and people (and bike watch) I didn't get to take specific crushworthy bike photos, but these give a general idea of the crowd.

2 comments:

I think that's one of my biggest fears that keeps me from volunteering at a tabling event, I would have a hard time selling it, even though I believe in what the organization does. A tabling training event would be nice.Mark